Your houseplants and gardens - Yellow leaf means underwatered AND overwatered?! What a country!

[Anasa Tristis]

Can anyone name any of the flowering plants in this picture?

Sorry for the double post, but I love playing this game.

The hot pink and silver foliage combo is a rose campion for sure. A reliable self seeding biennial. Comes in white too. I spy a hydrangea, some shasta daisies, and some sort of mallow too.

The super tall thistle looking one is a teasle. Looks like pink perennial geranium is below that.

That cadmium red flower on the left that looks like a rose could be some sort of double bloom dinnerplate dahlia. Those dark stems and its height doesn't read rose to me. But I could be wrong there.

 

[one_time_user]

@Anasa Tristis thank you! It's an L shaped plot, 40 feet by 20 feet with a connected 20 by 20 feet so it's really big. I don't think that I would be able to mark out the plants, I threw down 50 - 60 thousand seeds (not joking). I ordered Bonide grass beater to try to get some of it this year.

Am I understanding that I should cut/mow the entire area after it gets cold and then mulch it? wouldn't the mulch prevent flowers too?

I admit, much like everything else in my life, I am more determined than actually educated when it comes to gardening. I have never tried a big ass wildflower field before

 

[glioblastoma multiforme]

I am more determined than actually educated when it comes to gardening.

Join the club. We are learning while doing at least, and having the experienced gardeners in this thread is very useful. I'd love a wildflower meadow but I'll settle for my dandelion and daisy filled lawn.

@Anasa Tristis thank you so much!!! I definitely want to get some rose campion and shasta daisies. I've made mental notes to get shasta daisies in the past then totally forgotten so hopefully it sticks this time. I have a bit of underutilised space, but don't feel like adding anything high maintenance. The pic I showed was only a small part of the garden (a ton of it was sadly overrun with bind weed but still fighting) so I figure the stuff growing there can't need too much work.

Anyway, I'm off for my nightly slug patrol.

 

[Anasa Tristis]

@Anasa Tristis thank you! It's an L shaped plot, 40 feet by 20 feet with a connected 20 by 20 feet so it's really big. I don't think that I would be able to mark out the plants, I threw down 50 - 60 thousand seeds (not joking). I ordered Bonide grass beater to try to get some of it this year.

Am I understanding that I should cut/mow the entire area after it gets cold and then mulch it? wouldn't the mulch prevent flowers too?

I admit, much like everything else in my life, I am more determined than actually educated when it comes to gardening. I have never tried a big ass wildflower field before

You're welcome, I guess. Unfortunately I don’t have any experience doing that.

That is a big area. My intuition says yes to mow (as late as possible for seed maturing and drop) using mulching blades on your mower so it chops everything up fine. But no mulch-mulch. It’s unlikely that any dropped seed will germinate under or muscle up through regular mulch if it does next spring.

A 50/50 flower to grass and other stuff ratio ain’t bad really. If I were trying to improve that for next year I’d go out there regularly and crush up successful dried seed heads and scatter them. And stomp on them so they have good soil contact. Maybe pilfer seed from happily growing local roadside flowers and scatter and stomp them too.

I suspect that it’s going to take a few seasons to get an idea of what you got and what’ll work. Seed houses that make those mixes tend to throw varieties in that look pretty (and are desirable, like 10 different kinds of milkweed) but don’t necessarily play well together. Perennials and biennials won’t bloom the first year too, so you may get some surprises next summer. Give her some time and Nature will sort it out for you and you can tweak it from there.

rose campion and shasta daisies.

You’re welcome too. Both of those are usually easy and very satisfying. Especially in merciless conditions. They can take dry and hot. And crowding.

 

[one_time_user]

yes, I actually wouldn't care about the grass but my yard is like, super grass. it's so healthy and thick and the grass that got in that section is now taller than some of the flowering plants. I ordered from Outside pride and picked each type of flower, no bundles because I am positive that most of those are garbage. I knew many wouldn't flower this year, but I am visually disappointed anyway. I just want to live my Wizard of Oz dreams!

On the other hand, I have grasshoppers! Great big ones like when I was a kid - I haven't seen them in 15 years. I have monarchs and swallowtails and hundreds of dragonflies. So, they're happy with it all at least

 

[bliblblblbbllb]

@one_time_user It's kinda drastic for such a large area and not too cheap or easy, but assuming you're in the Northern Hemisphere, it's the right time of year for solarization. But it does work.
https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/solarization-occultation
https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/site-prep-solarizing-with-plastic-pollution

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Wouldn't it be CRAZY if I went to my local big box store and an ENTIRE leaf (including the node) from a marble queen pothos just HAPPENED to fall into my pocket????

 

[a hapless toad]

Anyone have landscape plant suggestions that are heat and shade tolerant but are also hardy to zone 6?

 

[Aunt Carol]

Anyone have landscape plant suggestions that are heat and shade tolerant but are also hardy to zone 6?

Heat and shade is a poser. English lavender?

 

[Anasa Tristis]

my yard is like, super grass

Ah. I'm gettin' it now. Your super grass wasn't killed (or even set back much) by your tarping and tilling. I should have thought of that, but it's been a while since I started a new growing area from scratch. And starting new planting areas in happy and healthy lawns is notoriously tough to do.

I've tried tarping. I left a big piece of billboard vinyl on a section of my garden from mid summer to spring the following year. I wasn't impressed with the results. My nastiest weeds (which were the reason for trying it) just had a nice long nap under it.

Tilling to clear an area for new planting is rarely (if ever) one and done. Disturbing the soil always brings buried seed to the surface. (And tilling breaks up root bits that'll simply regenerate, depending on the type of plants that are getting chopped up. Some lawn grasses are rhizomatous.) To really clear an area by tilling you need to wait a bit for the stuff you tilled up to the surface to germinate/sprout and then till again to kill those. And keep tilling, waiting, and tilling again until you see less new germination/growth. Or you run out of time or patience, LOL. And then you stop tilling and concentrate on keeping the top 1-2 inches clear of new weeds by hoeing, mulching etc.

So that's what I'm going to guess is going on. Your super grass ain't daid. And it's workin' hard on making a comeback. I hate to say it, but you may have to call what you've done so far a learning experience and start over. I don't think taking small measures here or there is going to be satisfactory.

Wouldn't it be CRAZY if I went to my local big box store and an ENTIRE leaf (including the node) from a marble queen pothos just HAPPENED to fall into my pocket????

Plant pilferer pro tip: No slipping of anything into a pocket! They're watching for that sort of thing. Pinch, palm and drop the cutting into the cart. No one looks at or thinks twice about plant bits on the bottom of the cart.

 

[glioblastoma multiforme]

After moaning about my dahlias endlessly (the ones at the front STILL haven't flowered though one is getting close to having a single bloom) I thought I'd post some positives.

This is my potted dahlia living its best life:


This orchid is in quarantine due to mealybugs, clearly they haven't impacted its ability to produce flowers;


Most exciting is my apple tree, its a self pollinating variety called Greensleeves. I selected it cos its self pollinating and we barely have space for one, 'precocious,' and supposed to be easy to manage and produce lots of fruit. Its definitely precocious, I took the blossoms off last year, having planted it the autumn before, to help it put its energy into roots. So this is its first year producing fruit, given how small it is I'm amazed by the number of apples. For some reason the picture is coming out sideways.



Edit, question: I've heard passionflowers can be used for anxiety and sleep. Is one plant enough to dry them and end up with enough to actually be useful? I've tried Googling but all I get is the same stuff about uses of dried passionflower, not about how to actually prepare them for use.

 

[a hapless toad]

Edit, question: I've heard passionflowers can be used for anxiety and sleep. Is one plant enough to dry them and end up with enough to actually be useful? I've tried Googling but all I get is the same stuff about uses of dried passionflower, not about how to actually prepare them for use.

It's mostly the leaves, actually, not the flowers. If you have a dehydrator, just chuck em in there until they're dry. Otherwise get or make an herb drying rack. Then make tea out of them. You can do it with the fresh leaves too, but you obviously need more, say a tablespoon rather than a teaspoon of dried. (Note: as far as I know, you CAN use the flowers as well as the vine to make tea, but I'm unsure of potency.)

Also you're talking about maypops, right? Passiflora incarnata? For the most part you don't want to mess around with the other ones.

 

[glioblastoma multiforme]

Also you're talking about maypops, right? Passiflora incarnata? For the most part you don't want to mess around with the other ones.

Damnit, its P. caerulea - very glad I inquired!

 

[fishercat]

The basil in my garden finally got big enough for me to cut a bit of it off. I made a pretty good pasta with it.

On a side note does anyone else here name their plants? I name my garden plants and it feels kinda cheesy, but it's fun.

 

[macrodegenerate]

After moaning about my dahlias endlessly (the ones at the front STILL haven't flowered though one is getting close to having a single bloom) I thought I'd post some positives.

This is my potted dahlia living its best life:
View attachment 6214978

This orchid is in quarantine due to mealybugs, clearly they haven't impacted its ability to produce flowers;
View attachment 6214977

Most exciting is my apple tree, its a self pollinating variety called Greensleeves. I selected it cos its self pollinating and we barely have space for one, 'precocious,' and supposed to be easy to manage and produce lots of fruit. Its definitely precocious, I took the blossoms off last year, having planted it the autumn before, to help it put its energy into roots. So this is its first year producing fruit, given how small it is I'm amazed by the number of apples. For some reason the picture is coming out sideways.

View attachment 6214979

Edit, question: I've heard passionflowers can be used for anxiety and sleep. Is one plant enough to dry them and end up with enough to actually be useful? I've tried Googling but all I get is the same stuff about uses of dried passionflower, not about how to actually prepare them for use.

Once upon a time there was an orchid forum(Orchid Forum Orchid Care) which had cracked the code on a noninjuring pesticide/Preimmergent for orchids. You would submerge the entire root system of the plant in it for a short period of time, and then spray the leaves. It worked by melting the insect's exoskeleton as well as the protective layer on any eggs and then injecting toxins into any soft tissue on insects. Then you would simply rinse the dead insects off with warm water. I used it to great effect when I was managing a dozen plants. To do this day, I have never been able to reproduce the ingredient ratios after the forum went down.

It was composed of:
-Warm water
-Cinnamin Extract(Alcohol based,Acts as a Preimmergent/insect repellent afterwords)
-Maybe Vinegar(small amounts)
-Mild soap(I used dawn)

Edit:This requires repotting and may cause your flowers to fall off. Like most post immergents this should be your last option, but it truly does kill everything if you can figure out the ratio.

 

[Jimmy Dean Bowl]

The basil in my garden finally got big enough for me to cut a bit of it off. I made a pretty good pasta with it.

On a side note does anyone else here name their plants? I name my garden plants and it feels kinda cheesy, but it's fun.

My biggest houseplants are named Colin and Clive. They're big boys.

 

[std::string]

I've tried tarping. I left a big piece of billboard vinyl on a section of my garden from mid summer to spring the following year. I wasn't impressed with the results. My nastiest weeds (which were the reason for trying it) just had a nice long nap under it.

Gotta use the thin clear plastic tarps if you're trying to kill weed seeds. Soil temp needs to be around 140. Some species can still survive that though so it's not foolproof. Another fun downside is that it kills most of the bacteria in your topsoil so you'll probably need to amend it with compost afterwards.

Burying stuff under a tarp that blocks sunlight will stop the seeds from germinating and might kill existing weeds but the seeds will remain there, laughing at you.

 

[a hapless toad]

Heat and shade is a poser. English lavender?

Not a huge fan, plus I've already got three of the damn things.

I also left out the fact that the soil leans alkaline and I need deer resistant plants as well.

(Yes I know, no such plants exist that aren't invasive and/or ugly. Maybe I'll just have a rock garden there.)

 

[Jimmy Dean Bowl]

I'm an enthusiastic plant novice (some indoor, some outdoor), currently battling a fungus gnat infestation of all my houseplants.
I'm certain it originated from a fern I bought from a farmer's market.
This will be neem oil treatment number 2. On the advice of some gardening page I used a spray mix of dish soap, warm water and neem oil a few weeks ago but I'm still seeing a lot of flies on the yellow stickies. I can't remember the exact dilution ratio. Did I use the neem oil incorrectly?
None of the plants are showing signs of stress and the roots all look good, but if the treatment doesn't work this time is my next step to repot them all?

 

[Anasa Tristis]

Gotta use the thin clear plastic tarps if you're trying to kill weed seeds. Soil temp needs to be around 140. Some species can still survive that though so it's not foolproof. Another fun downside is that it kills most of the bacteria in your topsoil so you'll probably need to amend it with compost afterwards.

Burying stuff under a tarp that blocks sunlight will stop the seeds from germinating and might kill existing weeds but the seeds will remain there, laughing at you.

I couldn't bring myself to totally fry my soil in my battle against the nutsedge. I value my microbes and whatnot too much. And since nutsedge goes 8-14 inches deep (!) I wasn't convinced it was going to work. It was unlikely that my latitude would produce enough solar heat for reaching that far down. But it would fry the top inch or two. Killing everything there. So tarping for almost a year seemed like a decent enough compromise with fewer downsides.

The tarping worked pretty well with supressing the regular/normal weeds. Nutsedge is just in a class by itself. It has its own little nut of stored up energy it forms on its roots. It can be killed off in lawns with certain chemical herbicides, but those herbicides cannot be used in food producing gardens. Organic citrus oil based herbicides so far are not working, and I've tried a few. Tilling just spreads the nuts. So I'm kinda stuck. My next move may be to smother it under 6-8 inches of woodchips for a year. Or I may try the molasses treatment post harvest, which supposedly robs it of nitrogen and weakens and kills it that way.

 

[Anasa Tristis]

I'm an enthusiastic plant novice (some indoor, some outdoor), currently battling a fungus gnat infestation of all my houseplants.
I'm certain it originated from a fern I bought from a farmer's market.
This will be neem oil treatment number 2. On the advice of some gardening page I used a spray mix of dish soap, warm water and neem oil a few weeks ago but I'm still seeing a lot of flies on the yellow stickies. I can't remember the exact dilution ratio. Did I use the neem oil incorrectly?
None of the plants are showing signs of stress and the roots all look good, but if the treatment doesn't work this time is my next step to repot them all?

Sorry for the double post, (again, oi!) but I gotta say neem and homemade soap spray ain't gonna work for fungus gnats. You need to kill their larva in the potting soil. One way is to cut back on watering so you dry out the top layer of soil. Which can work for minor infestations. A better way is to add 4 ounces of 3% hydrogen peroxide (available at any drug store) to a gallon of water and use that exclusively to water for a few weeks. The H2O2 will not harm your plants. The best way is to get yourself some of those mosquito dunks and steep a quarter of the dunk in a gallon container of your watering water and use that for a few weeks. Or get some commercial "Gnatrol" which is concentrated bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, the main ingredient in mosquito dunks. That stuff really works. BTI is a bacteria that kills fly larva.

Repotting may help, but potting soil sometimes has dormant fungus gnat eggs in it. Keep your sticky sheets up and kill the larvae in the soil with either the H2O2 or BTI. Eventually the population will die out.